Mind Over Matter 3 The Encounter
by runa216
Summary: In an alternate universe, the yeerks are worse than ever. Thank god there are also more animorphs. that could be a good thing or a bad thing, either way, know I made some mistakes, big ones in this book. tell me what you think.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
  
We were flying high above the city. Just the two of us, enjoying the air. I was a peregrine falcon, and Tobias was a red-tailed hawk.  
  
Even though a falcon has much more manoeuvring ability than a red- tail, Tobias made me look like a duck. Maybe that was because Tobias had far more practice than me. He spent most of his days surveying possible entrances to the yeerk pool, I usually fought with Sam.  
  
Anyway, Tobias and I were enjoying the gentle breeze and the thermals, but not for long. Even though the sheer joy of flying was overwhelming, we had a job to do. Rachel was in on it too. It was kind of personal, so Jake wouldn't agree, but Tobias had his reasons.  
  
We planned on freeing Tobias's girlfriend, or at least I joked. It was just a fellow red-tail. Her name was price-cut Polly, and even I thought what this guy was doing was horrible. So I decided to help, plus, I had nothing better to do.  
  
She was being held prisoner at a car lot, and dealin' Dan was about to get a lesson in animal rights. Dealin' Dan was a car dealer, in case you haven't figured it out yet, and he was using that poor bird as a marketing scam. I don't see how that would work, but it was bad either way. He kept her in a cage, and I didn't like that. We were going to raise a little havoc and let a hawk into the wild. Power to the parrots, I guess.  
  
We were hovering above the car lot, waiting for the big commercial to start. The thermals kept us high in the air so we could watch over effortlessly.  
  
We were going to bust up his 'live' commercial bad. And we were going to do it in style. Rachel was on the ground already, waiting for us. She was going to do the dirty work. An elephant can do a lot of damage to a bunch of cars in a few minutes.  
  
Overall, I thought it would be fun, but I was kind of sceptical. What would the bird do in the wild? Would the yeerks see? If they did, would we be dead? Oh well, I have my priorities.  
  
{There, he's opening the lock..} I informed Tobias.  
  
He circled and looked down. {Okay, remember this, 8-1-4-2}  
  
{Got it.} I looked down at all the news people and reporters. We were really putting on a show. I saw something that caught my eye, {is that a hairpiece on dealin' Dan?} I asked.  
  
{I think so, but he looks young to me.}  
  
{Oh well.}  
  
{Rachel, any time you are ready.} Tobias called down.  
  
A few minutes later, she answered. {Okay, I am ready, give me the signal and I am ready to bash a few cars.}  
  
I looked to the ground. The cameramen were doing the three, two, one, thing. {Tobias, I will go for the hairpiece. He is holding the bird, so he will probably put it away. That is when you strike.}  
  
{Got it, okay, Rachel, I'm going in!} Tobias screeched down to the ground, sweeping between the crews and Dan. Meanwhile, I aimed at his head, going for the toupee. I grabbed it lightly as Rachel tore out from behind the building. I had to make sure he wasn't hurt. I made sure he was alright, no blood or anything before dropping the toupee. He was fine.Now we were going to have some fun!  
  
HHHHRRREAUHHHH!! Rachel trumpeted.  
  
SEEEEEEEEEEEEEER! I returned.  
  
TSEEEEEEEEEEEEER!! Tobias added.  
  
Dealin' Dan immediately put the flapping bird into it's cage, which was put behind the reporters cameras. They weren't going to show a caged bird, it could give the wrong message.  
  
It was pandemonium. Rachel immediately began to trample random cars while we flew around like idiots. All the attention was now focussed on Rachel, so Tobias began to click the dial up bike lock with his beak. I could see the individual numbers. 8. 1. 2.  
  
Then one of the assistants noticed Tobias and picked up a wrench.  
  
TSEEEEEEEEEEEEER!! Tobias flared his wings, I don't know why.  
  
I decided I didn't want Tobias to be birdie-on-a-wrench, so I swooped back around and scraped the assistant's bald head. Three little red marks appeared on his head. This gave Tobias enough time to pick apart the last lock and swing open the cage.  
  
We both flew off, and after only a split second of hesitation, Price- Cut Polly flew from her restraints. I looked up and saw her silhouette against the sun. She was already above me because she was a red-tail, and they were more for gliding and soaring than me. She was already about a hundred feet above me. It was cool, but not important. We needed to get out of there fast.  
  
{Okay Rachel, we need to go.} Tobias urged.  
  
Rachel stared at the sky for a second before she stomped one last car. {Okay,} she said as she rumbled away into the forest behind the dealership. {but you got to admit, that was pretty fun.} she said.  
  
{Yeah, it was, now let's go.} I said. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
Okay, you are probably confused. Why was I a bird, and what was I doing there? Right? Well, I am human, I assure you that. The whole bird thing is a long story.  
  
Where do I start? Well, a bunch of kids.....Me, Jake Rachel, Marco, Cassie, Tobias, and Whitney all walked through an abandoned construction site about a month ago. There, we found a dying alien called Elfangor- Sirinial-Shamtul. He was an andalite. Think blue, deer sized centaur with eyes on top of the stalks and no mouth.  
  
As you could guess, from either sci-fi movies or logic, this andalite had far superior technology to us. Elfangor gave us the ability to morph, all seven of us. It is a technology created by the andalites. It allows us to morph into any animal we can touch. We have to touch the animal to acquire an appropriate DNA sample to let the technology turn your body into a duplicate of that animal, I think. Nobody ever explained it to us, we have to figure it out ourselves.  
  
So he gives us this power, I didn't know why at first. Even given his motives I still don't understand why he chose us. Anyway, apparently this Elfangor guy and the whole andalite race were fighting a war with a race called yeerks. These yeerks were the bad guys. They were little slugs, and if they got into your ear, they can tunnel their way into your brain and take control. Kind of like the body snatchers, but the 'host' still is aware and alive and such.  
  
These yeerks had been spreading throughout the universe for a while now, and now they were here. Now, don't doubt me now. They are here in secret. As I understand it, when they connect themselves to your brain, they become almost part of you. They know everything you know, whether you remember it or not. They can read your mind like a book, accessing your memories like a movie. Kinda cool to think about, but then you realize that there are literally thousands upon thousands of people infested this way. They could be anywhere, anyone. So I don't know why he picked us. We were just a group of human kids, so we could just as easily been 'controllers'. That is what we generally call that which has a yeerk in their head.  
  
So , back to the story, he tells us all this and gives us this power. We are supposed to stop this invasion. Then, this other andalite comes in and kills him. We are partway gone at this point. We want to leave, but we have to stand by and watch. Elfangor tells us about the yeerk hierarchy. The Vissers are like the military generals, put in order of power by number. Simple, Visser one is more powerful than Visser three. This andalite guy is Visser three, the only andalite controller. He kills Elfangor and almost catches us. We get away by the skin of our teeth.  
  
But get this, I touched Elfangor. I got his DNA sample and morphed him later. I also acquired a hork bajir in the same night. So I could fight.  
  
These hork bajir are one of the species that the yeerks have completely taken over. They are like giant lizards, with a snake head, and blades on their elbows, tails, and knees. They look like they could do some damage, but we hear they were peaceful tree dwellers before they were enslaved. Hard to believe with their fearsome look.  
  
Another beast that accompanied Visser three in his slaughter of Elfangor was the taxxon's. Giant yellow centipedes that smelled like rotting flesh and sour milk. They were huge, and the only thing we know of them is that all they do for a living is eat meat. Sounds like my kind of lifestyle, but they would eat any meat, and I mean 'any', no matter how fresh, cooked, or rotten it was. That's pretty much all we know about them.  
  
After this, we decided to test out our strength. We decided to fight against this 'yeerk pool' that we were informed was the centre of these slugs lives. Every three days, approximately, the yeerks had to drain out of their hosts to swim in this pool of lead, coloured liquid. It's function was to provide them with nutrients, such as kandrona rays. They were the main source of nutrition. We attacked and failed. It was like an army of one, us, against an entire platoon. We were drove off, and thanks to them not wanting the general public to know, they decided not to chase us. Unfortunately, Tobias exceeded the two hour morph limit and was permanently turned into the hawk we all know and love. A glorious red- tail.  
  
When I got home, I saw a moving van at m house. The yeerks had found out who I was. At first, I was scared that all my friends would be caught and we would all die. I was wrong. Apparently, the only people I was known to hang out with was Sam and Tobias. Since Tobias was already a bird, we had to try and save Sam. We did, but it left a paint ball field in ruins.  
  
Sam didn't trust us at first. Apparently, he was a huge asset to us. He had been somehow spying in on all the meetings that the yeerks held in public. He knew how much crap he was in, so he was cautious. We were also cautious and held him for three days. He was safe, and we learned of his powerful ability. Telekinesis. The ability to move objects with his mind. It was cool. He had improved greatly in the last month.  
  
So, we have dropped out of society and are living in a barn out in the national forest. It was probably an old run-down church or something, but now it was our home. We were safe. Me, Sam and Tobias all hang out in the forest. We all get along fine. The only problem is that Sam can't morph. Oh well, he is much more useful than that.  
  
You know, to this day I am not completely sure how they were able identify me. I am assuming it is from the bike I left not too far away from where Elfangor landed. I think they were able to do DNA samples and such to see. Either way, I liked my new life.  
  
Oh, By the way, my name is Gordon, pleased to meet ya. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
Later that day, we all assembled in Cassie's barn, also known as the wildlife rehabilitation clinic. There, Cassie and her family take care of all the sick and wounded animals and do the best to help them or put them out of misery if the case is too severe. Cassie is probably the most sensible person I know. She is understanding, strong willed, and a natural peacekeeper. She is also a tree-hugger. She has been in contact with all kinds of wildlife fauna and flora all her life. That comes from her parents being vets and stuff.  
  
Her and Jake are kind of tight. They are kind of going out, but have never made it official or talk much about it. Jake is our leader, but he will never admit it. He is always the one to take control in any situation and do the right thing. He just has all the leadership qualities, he listens to everyone in the group before making any huge decisions, and manages to always keep us out of panic. I hate the idea of bowing down to anyone else, but he is better than I am at this kind of stuff. I am a good strong leader, but let my emotions get in the way and tend to demand things that can't be done.  
  
Playing Command and Conquer I always won by brute numbers, he was more of a strategist. I also threw the controller when I lost. I have a little bit of a temper, and I used to be pretty good at repressing it, but recently, I have had reason to abandon this practice, that is why Jake is the leader.  
  
His best friend Marco would be the tactical officer in charge/Jim Carrey of the bunch. He was probably the best strategist and always saw right from point A-Z, no interruptions. He was a thinker, but had reason to be reluctant, and believe me, he was. Just two years ago, his mom died at sea. Nobody found a body, and it tore his family apart. His dad lost it and they have been living the slum life. Marco has been able to deal with it by making everything a joke. Something I try to do, but with a much lower success rate. I tend to upset people with my conflicting beliefs.  
  
Marco is always teasing Rachel, maybe that's because she is a living oxymoron. She is probably one of the best looking girls I have ever seen, even though she is still young. She is one of those super-model types, skinny and tall with long blond hair. But, as Marco put it, if you ever acted like that to her, she would rip your face off and use it as a napkin. She is probably the most warrior-like person I know. She fights with people more than I do, but with much better odds. I like her, she is my kind of girl. Rough and beautiful.  
  
Unfortunately, I have noticed lately that she has taken a liking to Tobias. I guess she feels sorry for him or something, which I can understand. They spend a lot of time together after school and in between missions, talking about this and that. Two opposite ends of the spectrum though. Tobias was a loser (so was I) and was always getting picked on. He was always shy and stuck to himself. His life sucked, getting shipped back and forth between a drunken uncle and an indifferent aunt. His parents died long ago.  
  
I guess you could say his life has improved, you know, no bullies, homework, or pressure. Personally, I would like his new life better.  
  
Sam wasn't as lucky. He had cool parents and a good future in front of him, excluding the yeerks and stuff. He was a genius in computers and assorted deviance devices. He could make a bomb out of nothing, then put a timer on it and everything. He was also beginning to study for psychology early on the net. A huge whiz kid, I could see him working in the government or something, you know. He wasn't a loner, that was sure, but sometimes you could sense a lone wolf persona emanating from him. He could be self sufficient, but was always working with others. His family was cool and funny, I can only wonder what happened to them when he 'died'.  
  
He lost a good family, and left it all behind. He seems to be at home here. Maybe it's a dream of his to show off what he did, I don't know.  
  
Whitney was also good with computers, not as good, but good enough. She still lives at home, and her family is also nice. She is a qualified genius with an IQ of somewhere around 180 or so. She could do a lot of things school related, but not as much real life stuff. She was cool and we always got paired together to do projects, because we were both smart.  
  
There was one problem too, even though I was pretty smart myself, I never got work done, I was always playing video games or ding crap on the computer. I was horrible in math, so I gave up on school when I learned that everything involved math, even though it was never used. My work habits would never get me into any university, so I gave up trying. I was an artist and decided my skills were best in the arts. I wanted to be a wrestler, then an actor, and right before all this invasion stuff, my plans were to become a video game designer, but also thought that it involved math. Oh well, too late now.  
  
I have a little bit of history in martial arts. I won every tournament I went in first place, all the time. No matter what. I was in Tae Kwon Do, and I was really good, I wanted to go on in martial arts, as I was beating black belts in sparring when I was in only orange belt, but I had to quit due to the big thing called money. I started to try capoeira, a dance-type martial art. It is what break dancers learn, but much more deadly. Mostly used for rituals and entertainment purposes.  
  
Well, that's my story for now, let's go on.  
  
Rachel, Tobias and I all approached the barn. Rachel bent over and whispered to me, "I bet the first thing Marco says will be, 'are you INSANE?!', I guarantee it." I laughed an agreement, opening the doors. Marco immediately got up and walked over to us....  
  
"Are....You.....INSANE!?!?!?!?" He practically screeched. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
We all sat around and had a very serious chat. Jake told us to be more careful, Marco ridiculed us and told us everything that could have gone wrong, sam and Whitney both kind of kept to themselves. Rachel defended us, but Tobias kind of decided to stay out of it. So did I, even though it was partially my idea.  
  
We all agreed to never do something that stupid again. And parted our ways. No new info on the sharing was available, and no huge yeerk activity was noticeable, so we were pretty much safe. We had a little vacation, after the last two main missions which were relatively right after another. The sharing is a front organization for the yeerks. It acts like a boy scout or girl guide for the whole family, but it is all a scam to trick people into accepting them into their heads.  
  
Me, Tobias and Sam all went back to our house in the woods. It was about a twenty minute walk from Cassie's, so I flew. I didn't need sam telling me what I did wrong.  
  
We were flying along peacefully until Tobias stopped and shouted, {Whoa! Damn, what was that?}  
  
I looked up with my falcon eyes. The stars were starting to come out but the sun was still partially in view. Just on the verge between day and night. I saw nothing more than stars. {What?} I asked.  
  
{A ripple in the sky.} Tobias explained. {It is gone now. It was moving towards the mountains. It was like a thermal, but moving to the side.}  
  
{Well, I saw nothing. Tell me if it comes back.} I told him.  
  
We continued to swoop around and back until sam made it to our house. He couldn't walk as fast as we could fly. I kind of felt bad not staying with sam, specially since he would give me the speech later that day anyway, then he would give it to me double. I landed down on the field by my house. The old broken down shack.  
  
When we found it, it was a wreck. Now it was relatively tidied up. Thank god there were no trails anywhere near bringing unlucky campers or hikers near. We just might have to kill them. We don't need the main public knowing where we lived.  
  
I decided to go anc climb the big tree that was in the middle of our field. It was a big oak, perfect for climbing. I made it to some of the higher branches before Sam realized I was taking a bit long and decided to come out to see me.  
  
"You know, there are many better things we could be doing with our time." he informed me.  
  
"Like what?" I asked. "It is the weekend, we have two whole days to enjoy ourselves. Let's do it rather than trying to waste our prime years."  
  
Just then Tobias came and rested on a branch not too far away from me. {come on, we have all day together when Gordon is at work to do all our little spying missions, Sam. So lighten up a bit, have some fun.} he said.  
  
"Well, should I bring up your little car-lot accident? I think you have had your fun for the weekend. Let's put that cheque to good use and get some more food and supplies."  
  
I started to climb down, "Sam, think about it this way, it is approaching night, and we can't do anything worth doing right now. Besides, I was thinking."  
  
"About what?" He asked skeptically.  
  
I finally made it to the bottom, then answered. "Let's make a campfire." I told him.  
  
He gave me a funny look, but we eventually agreed. We went over to the fire pit beside our house. Don't worry, it is well protected and will not stars any forest fires, it is closer to the house, and the entire house is surrounded by about fifteen feet of dirt before even the smallest trees.  
  
We made the fire and I made my suggestion.  
  
"So, my thoughts are that when you blow into a fire, it moves accordingly, right?" Sam gave me a half-puzzled look. "Well, this is evidence that it can be manipulated. I want you to try to use telekinesis on it." I said.  
  
"I don't know," sam said hesitantly, "I think the fire requires some sort of fuel to keep it going. Like some sort of wood or something to create the plasma. You know, plus I could get burnt."  
  
"I know, I thought about that, and yes, I know that plasma is simply the release of energy in the form of an explosive gas, I know all this. Just try it." I demanded.  
  
"Okay, I will try, but if I burn myself and it doesn't work, then I will be beating you with a stick until you pass out. Multiple sticks maybe, and you know I can." I winced. IU knew it, he could use his telekinesis to make the sticks hit me.  
  
He closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them, they were softly flowing a deep, bloodred. He put his hand up towards the flame. I could almost instantly see some of the fire immediately look like it was a solid. When it was completely away from the rest of the fire, it died out.  
  
"Crap, too bad." I said.  
  
Sam shook his head, "No, I think I know how to fix that."  
  
He tried again with even more fire. I always wondered what plasma would be like if it was manipulated and harvested. He held it in the air for a while before bringing it only a few inches above his opened hand. He then 'tossed' it to his other hand. Then he separated it into two separate flaming balls, one for each hand. Then he brought them both back together, making one big one. It then grew until sam 'pushed' it away into the big rock that was not too far away, leaving a streak behind it and exploding, in an organized manner, that is.  
  
Sam's eyes dimmed and he smiled.  
  
"We have just created fire." He said.  
  
I noticed I had a pretty big grin on my face too. I shook it off.  
  
{How did you correct the mistake?} Tobias asked.  
  
But I was kinda expecting how this would work, I tried to answer. "It's simple, from an audience point of view. All fire needs is fuel. Oxygen is it's fuel. The source is the wood. Once it is made, it can be moved around as long as it has that fuel. Sam simply had the oxygen come to the fire, keeping it alive."  
  
"Exactly." He said. "But next time, I will keep it away from me. I was finding it hard to breathe." He said as he coughed.  
  
I had a huge grin on my face. This was cool. "May I suggest you bring a lighter to the next battle?" 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
The Next day, Tobias went out flying as Sam practised the fire thing. Apparently, he was getting very good, which was good for us. This was really cool. Tobias and I were both already in the clouds as the sun was just beginning to rise. We could still see the stars.  
  
I heard a honking and looked up. It was a gaggle of geese. Really irritating, seeing them power their way along. They never run out of energy, and here I was a falcon, a falcon, and I was constantly tiring out. Anyway, right before my eyes, I saw the first one in the 'v' collapse, but it didn't fall. Instead it bounced along an invisible surface. The others were soon to follow.  
  
{There it is!} Tobias exclaimed, {The ripple!}  
  
I strained my falcon eyes, and yes, I did see a ripple flowing towards the city. It was gone only a second later.  
  
{That's it!} Tobias said, {And I'm sure it's Yeerks!}  
  
{Why, what would they want with a bunch of geese?} I asked.  
  
{I don't know, but did you see how they seemed to bounce?}  
  
{Yeah...}  
  
{Well, It must be a cloaked ship or something. But better, invisible too.}  
  
{Maybe, we should talk to Jake or someone.} I suggested.  
  
Only an hour later, we were all assembled in the barn again. Discussing matters. "Tobias and I think it's a Yeerk spaceship. It was heading towards the mountain last night and it was going ver the town just this morning."  
  
"Good for it," Marco grumbled, "you could have waited until lunch. This is way too early for an Animorph such as me." he yawned and rubbed his eyes. It was still only seven in the morning.  
  
"No, this could be a sign." Jake said. "Maybe the yeerks are stepping it up a little bit and are planning on doing something bad to the city."  
  
"Let's hope not." Whitney said, "we can't fight against that. All we have is stealth."  
  
"I don't think so." Cassie said after giving a needle to an angry fox. "What are the yeerks here for?" She asked.  
  
"War." Rachel said.  
  
"Dominance." Sam added.  
  
Cassie shook her head, "No, they want hosts to use. They want our bodies, not our land. It would not aid them to kill off many of us, it would be pointless."  
  
"Unless, we are far too late and they have already taken all the people they want and are going to eliminate all that they don't need." I offered.  
  
Jake stood up. "I think we need to find out what is going on here. Tobias, you said it was heading for the mountains, right?"  
  
{Yes,} He answered, {Then back to town this morning.}  
  
"Okay, we need to see where it was going. What time?" Jake asked.  
  
"About eight at night, six in the morning." I told him.  
  
"Okay, we need to scope that out. Unfortunately, none of us can do it any time soon. We all have school or whatever. We need to do this next Saturday." Jake said.  
  
"I think we can all do that, any objections?" Whitney asked. She looked around, no particular problems. "Good, see you all next week." Again, we all left.  
  
When Tobias, Sam and me all got home, Sam went to his usual TK training. I call the telekinesis TK, it sounds cool, and it is easier to say.  
  
Anyway, I got Tobias alone for a minute and asked him a favour.  
  
"Tobias, I need some help." I asked.  
  
{What do you need?}  
  
I was hesitant at first, but I eventually gave in and asked. "There is a friend of mine. His name is Will. I want you to check on him for the next three days. I need to know if he is a controller."  
  
{I bet he is. They checked out my place and Sam's, the people who you hung out with most, if you spent any time with these people, then he will probably be one of them.}  
  
"I know, and I know Jake will not be pleased with me. That is why I need you to be absolutely sure."  
  
{No, we can't be bringing in any people to this. We could get caught and killed, maybe even infested. I don't know about you, but I don't want that.}  
  
"I don't either. But he was a good friend of mine but I never really hung out with him. He is kinda tall, skinny as a bean pole, and has an afro, to an extent. His right arm is just recently out of a cast, so he will not be using it very often. If you could, just these next three days, look to make sure he doesn't do anything suspicious."  
  
{Fine, but I don't want you to talk to him about anything.}  
  
"I know, the yeerks know I'm alive. I won't give any info away about where we live or what's happening, okay, maybe what's happening. He is smart and will find a way to avoid it. Could you do that?" I was practically pleading now.  
  
{Fine, but you have to make sure you don't tell him anything. But first, we need to make sure he is safe. And between you and me, if he is safe, I want to lay down some rules. First, you don't talk about how you know any of this. Second, you don't morph. Third, don't tel him anything about us. If you do, I will get Rachel to kill him, and she will, to protect our secret.}  
  
"Sounds kinda harsh, Tobias." I commented.  
  
{War is harsh.} he grumbled. {why do you want to talk to him?}  
  
"I need some sort of contact with the real world. I love my life now, believe it or not, but I am getting a bit homesick. The whole Melissa thing didn't work, and I need someone to talk to."  
  
{Fine,} he huffed, {first you need to tell me some vitals.}  
  
I taught him WILL 101. His name, address age, etc. The works. I was glad to have a friend like Tobias. He flapped off to start his quest.  
  
A few minutes later, sam came in the door as I was ready to fall asleep. "Are you sure that was necessary?" He asked.  
  
"No, but he is a friend of mine. The least we can do is warn him."  
  
"And what would that accomplish?" he asked sarcastically.  
  
"Let's put it this way. We are trying to save our race. Might as well start somewhere."  
  
"Rachel said the same thing about Melissa and look what happened. Absolutely nothing." He shook his head and we went to sleep. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
The next three days, we heard nothing from Tobias. He was very busy, and for that I am grateful. I went to my job, and worked all day. Yeah, I know. Whitney has access to a license bureau, and she got me all the appropriate info and numbers you could need. She got me an identity. All I had to do was morph.  
  
Every two hours, I had to demorph. All I morphed was a bigger, tougher human. It was working so far. I liked it there. It was a furniture shipping company, and I worked in the warehouse. It was all I needed. I wasn't paying taxes, rent, or utilities, so I didn't need a whole lot of money. I brought in three hundred a week, enough to keep us in food and such. We lived happily. We had enough blankets to keep us pretty warm. We were fine.  
  
All we needed now was some TV, I missed TV. And video games. My PS2 was a gem to me. I wondered what happened to it? Oh well, I will live, besides, I had no rules, I lived life by my own rules, and that was cool.  
  
After the stressful three days, I saw Tobias come up to the house. He sat perched on one of the chairs we had.  
  
{Okay, sergeant Tobias reporting. In the investigation lasting the last three days, I have been keeping surveillance on this 'Will' Character, and with deep regret, I have been able to see him for the three days straight. He is not a controller.}  
  
I almost jumped up and yelled, but I kept control. "So, are you absolutely positively sure?" I pressed, I was not going to be wrong.  
  
{I am absolutely. He keeps a pretty public profile. He doesn't go anywhere that can be concealed. He is always in the open. Really easy to keep track of. I was able to completely keep track of him, except when I fell asleep. He was asleep too, so I perched against the window. H if he had of moved, I would have heard of him. He is a weird guy. He acts all gothic and stuff. He also seems to be into drugs.} he seemed concerned.  
  
"No, he is not into drugs. He is diabetic. He needs those needles to survive. I will have to see him tonight. Where is he?" I asked.  
  
{He was at the mall last time I checked. Went in with a lot of money, not very smart if you ask me, but oh well.}  
  
"Let's go." We went out and saw sam sharpening a blade on a special rock. "Where did you get the rock?" I asked. I knew they were a special rock just for sharpening blades.  
  
"Got it when we raided the house." He answered. "Where are you two going?"  
  
"Going to see will. Be back any time." I turned around to leave, but sam stopped me.  
  
"Don't say anything stupid. Don't be an idiot, or I will kill you, and you know I can." I turned and left.  
  
By the time I got to the mall, I realized my mistake. I wasn't wearing a hoody or anything to hide my face. I used up some of my money to buy one before I went searching.  
  
{Where's Will?} I asked Tobias in thought speech.  
  
{What? Did you morph?} he asked, kind of shocked.  
  
{No, I can use thought speech outside of morph, I discovered this when we were at the construction site.}  
  
{Umm, okay, he just came out of the electronic boutique with a rather large package.} he informed me. I knew exactly where that was. That was my favourite place in the mall. I actually found him by himself in the food court with the package. I walked up to him.  
  
"Hello Will." I said in a low monotone voice. I had my head low so he couldn't see my face. I also couldn't see his. The hood was over my face.  
  
"Who are you?" He asked.  
  
"An old friend." I sat down. "I am sorry to tell you this, but your world is in danger."  
  
"What, get out of here, can't a guy enjoy a lunch alone?" He asked.  
  
I shook my head. Then I uncovered my head. Just my face, and just for Will to see.  
  
"Oh God, is that you?" He asked. "I thought you were dead. Where have you been?"  
  
"I have been hiding. Some people want me dead. Some very important people." I put the hood back on. "And they aren't from around here."  
  
He kind of started to laugh. "The mafia is after your ass, oh, that's priceless. Do they know you're alive?"  
  
"Not mafia, aliens." I told him. "And not Japanese aliens, I mean aliens from outer space."  
  
He stifled a laugh. "I'm sorry, that is the stupidest thing I ever heard. Okay, we need to tel your folks were you are. They need to know you are alright."  
  
I shook my head. "No, you can't. If they find me, they will kill me. I don't exactly want that. Do you?"  
  
"Come on, you and Sam both have already had funerals. No body, no investigation. They said there was absolute proof you were dead." I shot him a surprised look. "What?" he asked.  
  
"Sam is gone too?"  
  
"Yeah, the same day you went missing, he disappeared too. Really sucks."  
  
I continued to tell him the entire story. Just the part of the yeerks and the hork bajir and stuff. I left out all the parts about the others and the morphing. I had to be careful. So the yeerks knew I was alive. They already knew that. What was the worst they could do? The entire time he sat there, laughing and smiling. I could tell he didn't believe me.  
  
"What, you don't believe me?" I asked.  
  
"No, it sounds pretty stupid. We need you to get back to your family." He said and stood up.  
  
"Sit down, will. Look at me for a second." I knew I shouldn't be doing it, but I was anyway. I was resting a lot of trust on this kid. I hoped it didn't come back to haunt me. I could tell at this point that he wasn't a controller for sure. He would have yelled or tried to divert attention, getting me captured. It was obvious, I could almost sense it.  
  
I began to morph to tiger, just allowing my face to change. The fur and stripes began to spread as the whiskers grew. My eyes shifted from boring human eye to a sliver of a cat's eye. I could feel the fur on my arms, but I stopped the morph, then morphed back. Will's eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging open. "Cool." He said.  
  
Once I as morphed back, I told him that under no circumstances was he to tell anyone. We could all get killed and the human race would be doomed indefinitely. He was a smart guy. He agreed. We left on good terms, but was Tobias ever angry when I came out. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
Rest assured, Tobias was angry. He told me he wouldn't tell Jake, but I could see he was disappointed. We both agreed to never do something that stupid again. You see, he was a hawk, and he could see me clearly.  
  
Well, as for that, we all decided to 'forget' about it.  
  
The next weekend, we all decided to go out into the mountains. Unfortunately, Tobias informed us of the difficulty with that.  
  
{Umm, guys. You know, there are birdwatchers out there, and if they see a bald eagle, golden eagle, two ospreys, two peregrine falcons, and a red-tailed hawk all in the same flight, they might suspect something. Especially if they are controllers.}  
  
"Come on, how bad could it be? All we need to do is stay far apart." I suggested.  
  
{No, it wouldn't work. We would have to be so far apart that we couldn't communicate with each other. Any closer and we would be noticed. Just a thought. We have to be careful.} he warned.  
  
So fifteen minutes later, we were all in the forest behind the farthest reaches of Cassie's ranch. We were going to morph wolves.  
  
"Awww, come on!" Marco whined. "Why does Jake get to be the guy?"  
  
Cassie shook her head. "Because that was the way it is. If we have more than one alpha male, then there could be problems with the instincts. You know how wolves are, they are very territorial."  
  
"But why Jake?" He continued whining.  
  
I slapped him upside the head. "Quit your whining, we made a decision, fair and square. Jake is the male."  
  
"I won the coin toss, it could just as easily have been you, so quit whining." Jake told him.  
  
I didn't care, I seemed to understand, so I just was the female, because it wasn't worth fighting for.  
  
"Marco, your hormones are too much as it is, we don't need you and Jake fighting as wolves too. We see that enough." Rachel shook her head.  
  
"If you all don't stop it, I will be the male, and that's it." Whitney interrupted. Everyone laughed. There were only two wolves in the barn. One male and one female. I think it would be easiest to have us all be female, quit the whining and get it over with. But Jake and Marco had to be the guy. Oh well, let them fight.  
  
"I will go first, it was my idea." Cassie said. Actually, she was morphing because we know she is good at morphing, better than us. She can morph faster, and control the instincts better than the rest of us. I was pretty close, but not quite as good as Cassie.  
  
Cassie shed her outer clothing and shoes before she began her morph. The gray-silver shaggy fur sprouted from the front of her face to her hands and feet like a wave. Then her face pushed out into a wolf muzzle having one shiny white tooth after another protrude from the side. She fell on all fours when her back legs reversed direction and shifted into place. Her front feet were already formed before they touched the ground. When the rest of the morph was done, a little rat-tail sprouted out from her butt then had hair cover it. She was a wolf.  
  
She took about three seconds to do anything, and when she did, it wasn't quite expected. She squared her shoulders and growled at us. Snapping her jaws whenever one of us moved.  
  
"Okay, I think we need to settle down and hope she regains control soon." Jake said. I agreed, but Cassie's snapping jaw silenced me before I could get a word out.  
  
She turned around, snapping and growling at all of us before finally stopping and sitting down. {Sorry, guys. Instincts are strong. Other than that, it is great.} Cassie told us. {The hearing and smell are amazing.} she sniffed each one of us then came to Rachel. {I thought you were going vegetarian?}  
  
Rachel looked almost embarrassed.  
  
"Ooh, busted by Cassie the wonder nose." Marco remarked. Rachel shot him a look that shut him up right quick.  
  
{Come on, you can smell everything.} she said again.  
  
"You don't want to smell me, trust me." I said. Whitney laughed, because she was the only one who knew what I was talking about. You see, when I was a kid, I was bad for the smell that would all too commonly emanate from my ass. You see, I used to have the worst gas. But that is mostly in the past and when I do pass gas, it is still a big deal, even though I am normal now, relatively.  
  
"Let's do it." Rachel said.  
  
I shed my outer clothing and stored my shoes in my shirt. I could only imagine how bad mine and Sam's clothes smelled. It has been a few weeks without washing them. Oh well, maybe we would get Cassie to throw them in a load of laundry some day.  
  
I began to morph, and was finished about a minute before anyone else. I sniffed, and could smell everything that had been in that forest for the last week, then the instincts kicked in.  
  
Enemies, near. Strange. Bad!  
  
I growled, baring my fangs. They growled back. This might be a fight. I arched my back and extended my hair. I was ready.  
  
I snapped out of my trance and sat down. A few minutes later, everyone else stopped too. {So, Welcome back to this world.} I said. {I will be your attendant for the evening.} everyone laughed, then Jake walked over to a log and peed. 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
  
We, as wolves, all made our way tirelessly through the forest, not stopping for anything, except Jake, who constantly had to pee.  
  
{Come on, man, we need to get going.} Marco said.  
  
{Sorry, I just always have this urge to pee.} Jake answered. {I can't help it, it is like I have to, or I will not be the boss.}  
  
{It is natural.} Cassie started.  
  
{He is marking his territory.} I finished.  
  
{Well, can't he just stop, we need to get going.} Rachel said. {Let's go.} we continued, but still had to go on.  
  
About halfway into our trip, one of us stopped and started howling.  
  
{Come on, let's..} I started, then started howling myself. Before long, all of us were howling and couldn't stop. When it died down, we continued on our way.  
  
Then , about three helicopters came from the distance. I could hear them, but could tell they were a long ways away, approaching quickly.  
  
{Guys, we have choppers.} Tobias informed us from above.  
  
{How far away?} Jake asked.  
  
{About a mile back. They look like they are going towards the lake.} he said.  
  
{What lake?} I asked, then sniffed. I could definitely smell water, and people.  
  
{About three miles up, just curve to the right a bit, you will be right on track.} I curved right a bit, then continued on, pounding my way ahead.  
  
About a minute later, I could clearly hear the helicopters which were right above us now. I continued on, ignoring it for now.  
  
{Umm, again ,guys, we have a problem.} Tobias informed us. {We definitely have hork bajir here.}  
  
{Are you sure?} Marco asked.  
  
{No, I am just seeing ten heavily armed, seven foot tall razor blades from hell jump out of a helicopter, I think they are hork bajir. A bunch of park rangers just ran a bunch of campers into a nearby truck. Probably to infest them. These are definitely not regular park rangers, they move more like military.}  
  
I thought for a minute, why would the yeerks be interested in a bunch of campers. Ah well. {Let's go in, nobody will notice a pack of wolves.} I said. I hoped I was right.  
  
We all made it to the lake with the military. They looked at the bunch of us and tightened their grip on their weapons, then dismissed us. We crawled around the perimeter of the lake until we hit the rocky cliffs bordering one side. We all laid down on the ground.  
  
We waited as the hork bajir and humans lined the edge of the lake. And we are not talking a very small lake either. I am talking about two or three miles wide. Huge enough to go water-skiing on. Which wasn't that bad of an idea. I shook myself out of the trance when I felt a huge presence above me. I looked up and saw nothing. Just clouds and blue sky.  
  
It was weird. I could definitely smell something large and metal. I could tell it was there, my nose did not lie. It must be really good stealth. I told myself. I was not surprised to see the giant yeerk ship decloak itself right in front of my eyes. It almost looked like it was being smeared from the sky. Pushed from one side and revealed the rest from one focal point.  
  
{Don't be surprised, but look up.} I said to everyone.  
  
{You think we haven't already see it?} Rachel asked. {The thing's the size of a small town!}  
  
{I see, this is much more than we thought.} Jake commented. {We should maybe leave.} he got up, but none of us budged.  
  
We all seemed to be as tranced as when we first saw the andalite ship land in the construction site, but for different reasons. We all stared, waiting for it to do something.  
  
{This is so much more than we can handle.} Marco said. {We were wrong to hope, there is no way we can take out that thing. I mean, come on, we are just kids!}  
  
{Quit your whining.} Whitney said. {Nothing is impossible, just shut up and think.}  
  
{About what? How to not get our asses crushed? I say, we all go home and take up drugs. Come on, the world is over, we don't stand a chance. Let's go home.}  
  
{Shut up, Marco.} Rachel snapped. {We will find a way if my life depends on it.}  
  
Just then, three giant tubes emerged from below the belly of the ship and went into the water. I heard a deep sucking sound that shut us all up. 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
{It's Drinking.} I commented. It was literally sucking up the water. {I think they need the water for up in the mother ship or something.}  
  
{I agree, you see those scoops on the bottom? They look like some sort of air intake.} Marco said. I looked up and saw a scoop on each side of the ship. The entire ship looked like a manta ray, the two big wings on the side and the tail trailing the back. And it was absolutely huge!  
  
{We need to leave, maybe formulate a plan or something, because the way it stands, we don't have any way to fight this thing.} Jake said.  
  
We all agreed and began to walk away. Just as we hit the tree-line, I turned around to see the three giant straws retract into the body of the ship. Then it kind of smeared into nonexistence.  
  
{Okay, does anyone have any idea of how we are going to figure this out?} Marco asked.  
  
{No, but we will think of something.} Jake said. {And if we don't, I don't think it will be a problem to leave it alone. It isn't doing any harm, so it isn't killing us any time soon.}  
  
{I just had a great idea.} Rachel interrupted. {We find a way to get aboard the ship, then we decloak it in front of the entire world. The yeerks wouldn't know what to do.}  
  
{How would we get off?} I asked. {Would we just sit and die?}  
  
{Of course not, we would all get off, then do it. Nop problem.} she answered.  
  
{You are far to hopeful.} Whitney said. {Think about it, there are probably a large crew. How would we get off without getting killed or captured. And even if we did, we would probably show our identities. So we would be dead by then, think about it.}  
  
{Guys, how about we just blow it up?} Rachel suggested.  
  
{Blow it up?} I asked. {you suggesting we just blow something that big up right above a city? Kill all those people?}  
  
{No, blow it up in orbit. Get a bug fighter and land it here. We will be fine.}  
  
{Okay, now you're talking crazy.} Marco said. {But then, suggesting we even try is crazy.}  
  
{Marco, you have to understand, if we fight, we may die. But if we don't fight, than who will? We will die or be taken anyway. I say we do what we can.} I said. {Think about it, hope gives people more hope, and you have to understand this.}  
  
{Yeah, well death doesn't give my family more life.} he replied grumpily.  
  
We all sort of shut up. Marco talking about his dead mother kind of was an indication that he didn't want to talk anymore.  
  
I started sniffing the air. Something sweet and something dangerous was in the air. {Guys, do you smell that?} I asked. {Smells like another wolf.}  
  
{Yeah, I smell it.} Cassie answered. {And something that is telling my mind that there is fresh meat nearby.}  
  
{We need to get out of here.} Jake advised. {We don't need confrontation with real wolves.  
  
{Okay, you guys need to demorph, your time's about up.} I heard Tobias say.  
  
{I gotcha.} I replied. Everyone else stared at me with those wolf eyes.  
  
{Who you talking to?} Rachel asked.  
  
What? Seven wolves? I heard in the back of my mind. I shook it off. {Nothing, just my imagination.} We turned and ran towards civilization. That was, until we ran into another wolf pack. With seven wolves. We were outnumbered.  
  
I sniffed again. It was the same bittersweet odour. I could smell the meat, I could smell the wolf. Only then did I make the connection. On a rock in front of me, I could clearly see a dead rabbit. On the other side, a pack of angry territorial wolves. It didn't look good.  
  
{I see you have found the same problem as me.} Tobias said. {I take it this is over the rabbit? Well, just back off.  
  
Can't, bad for ego. {Sorry, it's not like that. I have to fight for pride.} Jake said.  
  
{Who cares, let the other guys win, we don't want to own them, they can have this part of the forest.} Tobias answered.  
  
{No,} I interrupted, {You don't understand. If Jake backs down, then the other leader will attack. It's just the way of the wolf.} I explained.  
  
{Fine, this is over the rabbit, right?}  
  
I mentally shook my head, {Yes, but....}  
  
{Fine.} I hoped he wouldn't, but he did.  
  
TSEEEEEEEEEEER!!!!  
  
Tobias came down like a bullet, aimed right at the rabbit. He snapped it up with his talons and flew away. The other pack chased after him as we made our way past. {Find a place to morph, now!} he yelled as he let go of the rabbit.  
  
{How much time?} Rachel asked.  
  
{NONE!} If you're lucky. Tobias answered. that got all our attention. We were far enough away from the other pack to stop by then. We immediately began to demorph. Slowly but surely, our human bodies. I looked over to see cassie completely demorphed. When I looked over to the others, all I could see was many pink patches and silver fur.  
  
My eyes widened. They were trapped in midmorph! 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
  
{NOOOOOO!} I heard Tobias call down. Cassie and I went over to try to help the others.  
  
"Come on." I urged. "You can do it." I held Rachel in my arms. Cassie was over at Jake doing the same.  
  
{Come on, don't be like me.} Tobias said. Like a boost of motivation. That really got them going. But still no progress. They wiggled and squirmed, but to no avail. They were still half human, misshapen blobs of pink and fur patches.  
  
{I will kill you.} Tobias said. {Demorph now, the world needs you.} he threatened.  
  
"We need you." I stared at Rachel. I put her down. I could tell it was her by the long golden hair that dangled in small bits from her head.  
  
I got up and went over to Marco. I kicked him in the side. "Demorph. Now." I demanded. I kicked him again. I decided to try a different approach. "You're weak. Get up soldier!"  
  
Cassie stared at me for a second, but saw what I was doing and didn't stop me. I walked over to Jake. I kicked him too. Not too hard, but enough to get his attention. "Whatever happened to the great leader." I asked cynically.  
  
Then I walked over to Whitney and Rachel. "What Happened to you. I though you were strong. Rachel the warrior and Whitney the genius. What the hell's wrong with you. You don't deserve to be human, you are weak, you couldn't save the planet if you wanted to." I sneered.  
  
{STOPPIT!!!} Marco yelled as he slowly began to peel the fur from his skin. Slowly but surely, he began to demorph.  
  
One after the other, they began to demorph.  
  
"Good, keep it coming." Cassie said to herself as she held Jake.  
  
I stood back and watched as they all slowly morphed back to their human self. An agonizing five minutes later, they were all standing there, staring at me. Rachel came over and punched me right in the face, then she collapsed on the ground in front of me. She would have been crying, but then she just wouldn't be Rachel.  
  
We all stood there, not really saying anything. Eventually, I said, "Come on, we need to get going. We all have places to go."  
  
"I am not morphing wolf again." Marco said. "No way."  
  
Jake walked over to him. "Fine, we will all morph to raptor. Who cares about the bird watchers, right Tobias? Tobias?" He looked around. Tobias was nowhere near.  
  
"Let him go, he was probably offended in some way. He helped us at his expense. He probably want's to be alone." I told him.  
  
"Fine with me." Marco said. "Let's just get going." He began to morph to osprey. The feathers grew all over his body and he finished before anyone else started. We all stared at each other. Rachel said nothing as she morphed and flew off.  
  
Whitney and Jake morphed and left. That left me and Cassie.  
  
"That was close, too close. We need to be mor careful. I will try to find Tobias." I told Cassie. I began to morph.  
  
Just as I finished, Cassie said "I am surprised with you. I just couldn't see you being so cruel, but in a good way."  
  
{What can I say, some things need to be done.} with that, I flapped my small wings and flew away.  
  
When I made it home, I asked if Tobias was here. Sam was still practising his fire manipulation.  
  
{Sam, is Tobias here?} he looked up, shielded his eyes, and shook his head 'no'. I left. I searched the entire forest within a mile. He wasn't around. I gave up when I decided he would be fine. He was a bird, he could take care of himself.  
  
I flew back home and demorphed. Our clothes were left not to far away. I clooected them and went to Sam.  
  
"What was that all about?" He asked.  
  
"Nothing. We had a little accident and Tobias disappeared. He will be fine, though." I told him. He was puzzled, but I answered before he asked. "Everyone got stuck in midmorph for five minutes. It was half wolf, half human. It was horrible."  
  
"I see, so Tobias was embarrassed, so he flew off. I get it. Anyway, I hve been practising, and it is getting pretty cool. I can make patterns now." He said, then tried to give me a demonstration.  
  
I grabbed his shoulder, "Sorry, but I don't care right now. I think I know where he is." The fire disappeared.  
  
"Oh, and I'm chopped liver. By the way, I used up some of the money and saw a movie. Hope you don't mind."  
  
"No problem, as long as we still have lots." I told him. 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11  
  
The next day, we decided Tobias was safe. Rachel, Cassie and Whitney came by and Rachel told us Tobias had come to her place earlier that day. He was apparently more shaken than the rest of us.  
  
"You serious?" I asked.  
  
"He was genuinely freaked out. He was truly scared we would become worse than him. That and a little unfortunate accident with the other wolf pack really rattled him up." Rachel answered.  
  
"Oh, if you see him, tell him I am glad we are all back on track and I would like to congratulate him on trying to help us at his expense. That was really difficult, I can tell."  
  
"Hey, lets show them some of our more impressive stuff." Sam suggested.  
  
"Okay, I get it, you are happy I thought of that fire thing, but unless we get in any fights soon, it is pretty much useless." I told him.  
  
"No," Whitney interrupted, "I want to see this. I have heard of it, but I find it hard to believe. The physics are all wrong."  
  
Rachel and Cassie both turned and looked at Whitney. "What, I don't get it. What are you talking about?" Rachel asked.  
  
"Yeah, what do you know that we don't?" Cassie asked.  
  
Sam stepped forward. "Let me show you. If you would, please excuse me." He stepped in front of us and whipped out his lighter. He flipped open the lid and I saw a little hint of red coming from behind him.  
  
The flame grew and grew until it was about three feet tall. Then it spread away from the lighter and formed a circle above Sam's head. He turned around and looked at us.  
  
"Cool, eh?"  
  
The flame grew little bars in the middle that made it look like a peace sign. I laughed. The others were staring in awe.  
  
"That's so much cooler than before." Whitney said. "But I still don't see how it's possible."  
  
I looked at Whitney. "Look, think about it this way. Sam, give me the lighter." He did, and immediately the flames went out. Not because they were away from a source, but sam just gave up on them. I opened the lighter and lit it.  
  
"Now look. See how I breathe on it?" I blew a little. The little flame flickered but didn't go out. "That means it can be manipulated." She nodded. She was smart, I knew she understood, so I went on. "We all know that fire is not solid, liquid, or gas. So what is it? It isn't light, so it can be moved, but it cannot be contained, so it is not a gas. It is a plasma. The link between gas, light, and energy, so it does have a form." I looked at Rachel and Cassie, "You getting this?" I asked.  
  
"Yes, so far, as long as it isn't rocket science, I will be fine." Cassie answered.  
  
"Go on." Rachel urged.  
  
"Okay, we also know that fire needs three things to exist, heat, oxygen, and fuel. Without one, the fire dies out. We see the fire rise, so we know it is light. After a few failed attempts, sam realized that the fuel was lacking. All he had to do was try to guide the fire in a way that kept it in a perfect alignment for recycling. All he needed to do was subconsciously direct a lot of oxygen to keep it burning. And that concludes our tutorial." I finished with a bow.  
  
"How right is he?" Rachel asked Sam.  
  
"Almost perfect. We discussed it all pretty well. He knows what is going on." He answered.  
  
"Well, we thought we would bring up a few things. First, the Tobias thing. He has seemed to disappear, but we know he is alright." Rachel said. "Then we came to tell you we have a meeting this Wednesday. If Tobias is anywhere near here, he will understand. It is later tonight, after supper, in Cassie's barn. Jake has asked specifically that you attend Sam. He needs your bombs, or something."  
  
"Alright, I get to help." He said.  
  
"Well, I don't think so." Cassie said, "we all know that the lake is a good twenty miles out. You will not be able to go. But Jake and Marco have thought of something, so he needs you there."  
  
"Alright." Sam said, almost disappointed. But he perked right back up. He was smart.  
  
"So, that was all we needed to do for now. We have to go. Our gym club is doing preparations for a presentation this Wednesday at the mall." Whitney said.  
  
My eyes lit up. "I am so there." I told them. "What time?"  
  
"You will not be going. To dangerous." Rachel said, then she smiled. "And if you do, I will personally remove your ability to reproduce." She smiled sadistically. I cringed, Sam laughed.  
  
"Come on, I have to go, it is almost my dream." I told her. "It is my destiny."  
  
Whitney interrupted, "If Rachel doesn't get you, I will, and I can." I shook my head.  
  
"You are all too violent. There are better ways to deal with things like that." I suggested as I cringed again.  
  
"But that is so much more fun." Rachel laughed.  
  
"Come on, we need to go." Cassie said. "Got places to go, people to see. My dad needs some help with the wolves. They are apparently going to die." With that, they left. And that is that. 


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12  
  
Wednesday that week, I was sitting at home with Sam, practising our martial arts. Sam caught me off guard and kicked me in the face. I sprawled across the ground. Sam tried to kick me while I was down, but I rolled out of the way. "Stop, I heard something."  
  
He stopped. "What, I didn't hear anything." He said.  
  
"It was a voice, and not just any voice. I could tell. It was definitely a voice talking to me." I told him. It was like something was telling me something.  
  
He shrugged. "Oh well, I didn't hear anything, let's keep fighting." I agreed, but I was a little off guard the rest of the fight.  
  
I got up as Sam jumped at me, with a foot ready to kick me in the face. I blocked it and kicked at him. He dodged, but I quickly brought my foot back and brought it to his chest, pushing him away. He stoped and raced at me, punching. I knew his plan and backed away, dodging the punch and knee that was coming.  
  
I came up with a grapple, we were each aiming for each other's throats. I grabbed his shoulders and pushed myself up, kicking off his chest in a backflip. I almost landed on my face, but I rolled off my stomach and on to my feet to see Sam still stumbling until he fell on his ass. I laughed. "What, losing your touch again?" I taunted.  
  
"No, but I am a little sleepy." He got up and tried to punch me in the face, I back-ducked out of the way as he used the momentum to bring his right foot up and kick me. I blocked that and pushed it away to the ground and kicked him in one fluid motion. He grabbed my foot and tried to sweep my other foot out from under me, I anticipated it and rolled belly down and somersaulted over his foot. I knew he was right there, so I turned around and brought up my foot to his stomach.  
  
He got up and swung at me again, but I dodged it again and used his momentum against him to knee him in the gut. While he was reeling, I kneed down and picked him up around the waist and slammed him down, wrestling style. He coughed.  
  
"Sorry, didn't mean to hurt you." I said as I offered him a hand up.  
  
"Whatever." He said as he got up, I immediately jumped out of the way even before his eyes glowed, he missed and only my feet went flying. I landed on my stomach and gasped for air. He rushed at me again and I scissored his feet out from under him.  
  
Up we both got again, but this tie he had a stick. Oh my god, the almighty stick. It was sword fighting time! Unfortunately, I couldn't see a stick, so I fought with my hands, and let me tell you, a hard stick beating on hands isn't fun.  
  
He swung wide and missed me by inches, arced my back so it would go by harmlessly over my face. I reared back up and caught the stick with my arm, then I swung backwards around to backhand him in the face. He staggered and brought the stick up sideways, I blocked it, which, by the way, hurt a lot. He brought it high over his head and swung it down at me. I tried to dodge, but seeing his trick, I kept only one hand up to stop it. The other was at my stomach, to stop him from stabbing me. Boy, were my instincts good to me, he retracted it just in time to miss me and tried to stab me in the stomach. I blocked and spun around, until we were back to back.  
  
I tried to hit him with a spinning kick, but he ducked, so I brought up the other foot. He blocked that. My shin hurt from the stick. He swung at me, but I grabbed the stick and pulled him in close as I fell back and monkey flipped him over my head. He flipped perfectly and landed on his feet. Unfortunately for him, I saw this and rolled around, kicking him in the back of the shins. He fell to his knees and I grabbed for his neck, to act a neck breaking.  
  
He fell out from my hands and rolled onto his back, kicking me in the face. I reeled and he spun, kicking me in the feet, making me fall on my face. He sat on my back.  
  
"Ready to call it a day?" He asked.  
  
I shook my head. "No."  
  
"Too bad." He said as he grabbed my neck and reared back on it. I quickly looked for an exit. I looked around and saw only the climbing tree. That was is, a low hanging branch!  
  
I crept up to my knees, hurting all the time as he wrenched on my neck. I stood up and rushed at the tree. He let go of my neck and grabbed the tree instead. He flipped up back and landed on his fee on the split in the branch. I turned around and stared at him. He was crouching, holding onto the branch for support, and worse, his eyes were red.  
  
Damn! I thought. I made sure to concentrate on not just him but the entire clearing.  
  
I saw little glowing blue stones lift out from everywhere. Shit! The started flinging at me one at a time. I dodged one, caught another, dodged the next three, and took one in the shoulder. I cringed, but still dodged two more before trying to catch them.  
  
FWAPP! I caught one with fast reflexes. I held it in my hand.  
  
Three more came at me, I dodged the first two and caught the third. I now had three rocks in my hand. There were still two in the air. One on either side of me. They both flung at me at the same time.  
  
FWING!  
  
FWING!  
  
Both of them missed, and I didn't even have to move. I reached out and grabbed them both before they went far. I had all five. I looked up and stared at Sam, his eyes were really dark, almost blood-red. It was almost scary if I didn't know who it was.  
  
Sam jumped down at me, trying to bring his hands down on my head in a club. I stepped forward and grabbed him around the waist. I kept him on my shoulder and drove my shoulder into him into the tree. I held onto his hands and walked up his chest and backflipped, still holding onto his hands. I picked him back up around the waist and flipped him over my shoulder. Still holding onto his hands, he was upside down behind me and I kicked him in the chest, making him land on his chest.  
  
"Game, set, match." I stood over him.  
  
"Really." Click.  
  
Damn! Sam turned around and pointed his finger at me, a lit lighter in hand. FWOOSH! A pillar of flame spat out at me. It I tried to dodge it, and I knew that I couldn't, the fire spread would be too wide. I jumped anyway.  
  
I was engulfed in flames, only for a second. I didn't catch fire, which was good. Sam stood above me. "I win."  
  
"I guess you do." I admitted. "Good round. I thought I had you quite a few times."  
  
"It was weird, you seemed to know what I was doing before I did it." Sam said. "It was like you were reading my mind, always setting up a counter before I had done the move. I found the Telekinesis to be the only thing that saved me. It was weird. You have gotten better."  
  
I thought about that for a minute. "Yeah, maybe I am just getting good at predicting you. I don't know."  
  
"No, it was like you were reading my mind. It was really weird. And wort of all, when I was using the stones, you seemed to know where they were going. That required all my concentration and I couldn't even see them, how did you know where they were?"  
  
That was weird. It really was. How is it that I could tell where the stones were when even Sam didn't know where they were? I decided to ignore it.  
  
"Well, let's call it a day." Sam said. I agreed.  
  
Just then, I hear a bloodcurdling yell. {OH, GOD NO!}  
  
"Did you hear that?" I asked sam. He shook his head. "It sounded like Tobias." Sam shrugged, puzzled.  
  
{NO! NO! NO! NO!} I heard again.  
  
"What about now?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"He seems in trouble." 


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13  
  
I began to morph peregrine falcon. "Where ya going?" Sam asked.  
  
{I am going to see if I can find Tobias. Maybe something is wrong, and maybe I can help. Falcon eyes can see everything. If Tobias is anywhere near hear and takes off I will see him.} I told him. I could have talked half speech, but I thought it was pointless to try and do half and half.  
  
I finished morphing and took off. {See you later at the barn. I will probably be gone long.} I caught a big updraft and flew as high as my little falcon wings would take me. I tried to ride the thermals and look around. Seeing as it was a forest, there weren't many thermals. I strained my falcon eyes to look everywhere, but saw nothing at first.  
  
Then, out of nowhere, I saw a red-tail hawk float above the forest wall.  
  
{NOOOOO!} Tobias said. I killed!  
  
I followed him to town. He went to town, silently crying to himself. After about fifteen minutes of mindless wandering he decided to fly into the front door.  
  
I would have cringed if I was human. If it wasn't for my hawk eyes, I would have thought he splatted himself on the window. But someone had opened the door.  
  
I floated above the mall for a minute, looking through the skylight I could see him repeatedly flying from one end of the mall to the other.  
  
I decided to land on the top of the mall and demorph. Sam was right. It was a good idea to keep a set of clothes on the roof. I searched the air conditioner and pulled out a bag of clothes. Just a pair of shorts, t- shirt and cheap shoes. I quickly put them on and climbed in the door that led to the mall.  
  
Down the ladder I went, opening the door to the main area of the mall, I saw a crowd all staring and pointing at the spectacle that was put on by Tobias. I looked at him and tried to follow him.  
  
Down the steps I went to catch up to him. On the way, I ran into Rachel and Whitney who were currently doing a performance. I tried to avoid them, because if they saw me, they would suspect something.  
  
{NOOOOOOO!} I heard him shout again. Rachel looked up, eyes wide. Nobody else seemed to notice his screams.  
  
I looked up and saw Tobias do a complete turnaround before coming back and flying right into Rachel's chest, she fell back, cradling him. I could see she was talking to him.  
  
{No, you don't understand, I'm lost. I Killed, you understand? I Killed!} more talking from Rachel before he said... {I have to go, bye.} just then Rachel heaved him off her chest and into the air. This was all he needed to fly again.  
  
Whitney went over to Rachel and helped her up, but I was already on my way back up the stairs to the roof. As I looked over , I could see Tobias fly right into the wall.  
  
NO! I screamed to myself.  
  
Oh, just let is end! I heard in my head, but it wasn't thought speech. I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate. When I opened them, I saw Tobias flying directly up, he must have flared and flew up.  
  
Even so, he was about to hit the skylight, and that would be just as fatal to his weak bird body. But right before he hit the glass, the small section of the skylight shattered, raining shards of glass on the curious onlookers.  
  
Tobias was out, but that didn't explain why the glass shattered. I went back to the door I entered in. Normally it would be locked, but I made sure to keep it open a crack. It was still open, so I went in it and climbed the ladder to the roof to see Marco half morphed into an osprey.  
  
"What the hell? What are you doing here?" I asked.  
  
{Got an anonymous tip that a bird was seen here.} he answered, too far in the morph to answer with spoken words.  
  
"Well, I guess we better go and tell Jake." I said as I began to morph falcon. We both thought of going to jakes house, but we knew he would not be there so we both flew to the wildlife rehab clinic to wait for him. He was expected to be there any minute.  
  
Only minutes after me and Marco made it there, Jake showed up with Cassie.  
  
"What are you doing here so early?" Jake asked.  
  
"We came here to tell you about the little incident today." Marco told him.  
  
"What incident?" Cassie asked.  
  
"Tobias almost killed himself in the mall today. Rachel saved him, but he was pretty shaken up."  
  
"So he's alive." Jake said.  
  
"Yes." I answered.  
  
"Good, I am assuming that he is probably going to be here soon, so we all act as if he isn't, okay?"  
  
We all waited until Rachel, Whitney, Marco and Sam all made it here until telling everyone about the Tobias issue and the plan.  
  
Apparently we were going to attempt to attach that giant ship again. Of course, Marco was pissed, but oh well. Rachel was confident, but cautious. Everyone else agreed that it was a necessary blow that we had to do. We were planning on having Sam construct a bomb that we would plant a bomb in the ship through the water intake pipes. We would all morph fish to guide it. But to do this, we pretty much had to make a perfect bomb that could float and was dangerously powerful. On top of that, we had to camp out there all day to catch a fish.  
  
Needless to say, Sam was very happy about the plan. 


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14  
  
The next day, Sam came to work to pick me up. When I left the building, he was laying on the company sign. I walked over to him.  
  
"What are you doing?" I asked.  
  
"Waiting for you." He answered as he jumped down. "We need to make a few purchases."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well, by the looks of it, I need some chemicals and electronics. I have nothing now big enough to make a bomb to hurt this ship, if it is as big as you say it is. I need a few materials."  
  
I began top demorph from my fake human cover. "Like what? Do we have enough money?"  
  
"Probably. What I need is simple chemicals. Probably no more than fifty dollars worth. Then an igniter. It won't light underwater, so I also need some insulation, coming to a grand total of about 100 bucks.  
  
I got my wallet out and looked in it. I had 150. That was enough. "Good, I do have enough." I put my wallet back.  
  
"Good, let's go to the mall."  
  
We both walked to the mall. Both in our black suits, we looked like we were ready to cause trouble. We never really talked, except about the mission, which was unfortunate. Our lives now revolved around this war. We were still just kids. Oh well, it was a game anyway.  
  
We reached the mall and the first stop was radio shack. Sam picked up a few generic cables and batteries. He also got some little cheap clock, probably a timer. We paid for them and left.  
  
Our next destination was the gardening section.  
  
"What do we need here?" I asked.  
  
"Fertilizer." He answered.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Nitrogen and phosphorous. Two very deadly chemicals. Not poison, but reactant. Well, the nitrogen is, anyway."  
  
"What does it mix with?"  
  
"Diesel fuel. The mix and correct balance of reactant and organic material will cause an explosion of surprising proportions. To amplify it, we will put it in a pipe with welded ends. The chemicals will force the metal out, and by the time it gathers enough energy to explode, it will be huge. You see, explosions can't be contained, so they expand, creating pressure." He explained.  
  
"I see, so, do we go to the metal bar section?"  
  
"No, we just go here, the hollow handles of garden tools will work will do just fine."  
  
We got our fertilizer and spade and paid for them, then we were on our way. We went to sporting goods. He got a dozen tennis balls and a hell of a lot of firecrackers. I was very curious now.  
  
"What do you need that for?" I asked.  
  
"Simple, grenade." He pulled one ball out of the case. "You see, if we can drill a small hole in this and pour the gunpowder from the firecrackers in it, it can be very deadly. Put a few pebbles in it and a fuse, you have a very potent weapon. A claymore." He explained.  
  
I was impressed. "Cool."  
  
We bought them too and were on our way. We went on our way home, but decided that since we had so much money left over, that we would maybe go see a movie. We decided to watch the Matrix: Reloaded. It was great. On our way out, I saw someone I knew. It was Lindsay, a friend of mine from school. I was tempted to talk to her, but decided against it. With Will being partially in the loop, we didn't need anyone else to even remotely know about our secret. So I decided against it.  
  
"So, you like her eh?" Sam nudged me.  
  
"Well, yeah..." I thought about it. "But not that way. I think she was good to talk to and was always nice. She is also cute."  
  
Sam smiled. "You like her."  
  
"Shut up, Sam. We need to go."  
  
We began to walk away, when she stared at me for a minute. I turned and walked away. She caught up to us and tried to get my attention.  
  
"Excuse me, do I know you?"  
  
"No, I don't think so." I said to her as I kept walking. But she got in front of me.  
  
"Are you sure? You look really familiar." She stared at me in the face while I tried to walk around her, she stopped me. "I know you, who are you?"  
  
I looked at her for a minute. "No, I am sorry, your face does not ring a bell. Now, would you please let me go, I have places to be." I looked around for Sam, he had already left and was waiting outside for me.  
  
"I guess I was mistaken." She said, then she let me pass. I left and went to Sam.  
  
"Thanks for your help, let's go."  
  
We left and picked up our materials from a half finished building at the construction site across from the mall and got a gallon of diesel fuel on the way past the gas station. 


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15  
  
Getting home was no easy task. We had to carry the assorted tools and fertilizer all the way through town and through the forest. The weight was hard on our shoulders. Really irritating.  
  
Anyway, when we finally did get home, sam went to work almost immediately. He got me to help, of course.  
  
"Here, hold these firecrackers. I need to cut the top." I did gold them, they were all in a line, so he could cut them easily. He cut them and we carefully poured the powder into a cup.  
  
"Good, not le's get the rest." We did the same with all ten packages of firecrackers. It was an entire cup of powder.  
  
The next step was to put the holes in the tennis balls. We used a nail. This was a difficult task, but ended up working okay with the funnels. The hole was just large enough to squeeze a few small pebbles in it. We did this nine times before we ran out of powder.  
  
He put a wick in it and set them aside with our swords and guns.  
  
Next up was the pipe bomb. Sam tells me it is powerful enough to obliterate an entire residential block if the proper portions are mixed. The metal we were using was thin enough to do sufficient damage.  
  
He started to open the chemicals one by one. The smell was gross, but I could deal with it. It smelled like shit, quite frankly. Shit and oil, but it was for the greater good so I dealt with it.  
  
"Okay, I need you to bend the metal spade until it snaps. The handle is completely enclosed except for the one hole in then end of the handle, so it will be perfect."  
  
I examined it, he was right, but it wouldn't work as well with the little shovel on the end. I bent it back and forth until the metal was hot in my hand. I looked over and saw Sam mixing the fertilizer and fuel in bucket while I let my hands and the shovel cool down.  
  
I left it for a minute and went back to work on it, soon it was a simple pipe with a hole in one end and a stump of semi sharp metal sticking out at the other end.  
  
"Here, I need you to hold the funnel. We are going to pour the liquid in now." he handed me the funnel. I held the tiny end over the small hole in the pipe, he poured slowly and it all went in fine. "Now be sure to keep it pointing straight up, or it will spill out. The hole isn't that small."  
  
"I know." I held it up until he got the rubber stopper and the two wires. One on each side of the stoper. It was a small stopper, just the right size to hold the wires in.  
  
"This is the igniter. I have placed it just right so that it will create a spark." He told me. "When I connect these two wires to the beeper on this alarm clock, it will go off. All we have to do now is set the timer and wait." He fiddled with the tiny little clock and got a good time. Then he turned off the alarm. "Don't forget to set it when you are out there or it will not go off."  
  
Sam continued to super glue the clock to the side of the metal bar. The clock was no bigger than a digital watch. He connected the wires and insulated them apart, so they wouldn't short circuit. Then he taped them to the side of the pipe. We had a bomb.  
  
"Now we need to make it float." I told him.  
  
"No problem." He answered confidently. "Got some styrofoam. Just glue that to the underside and it will say afloat."  
  
I shook my head. "No, we need it to stay at half float. If it is on the surface, then it will be seen and probably take, leaving us open for attack." I told him. "It needs to be buoyant enough to float, but enough dead weight for us as fishes to grab a hold of it and pull it down to be sucked up into the intake pipe."  
  
"Oh, so it needs to be calibrated perfectly." He said. "I can do that, but it may take me a while to do that."  
  
"You have a bit of time, so you can do it tomorrow when I'm at work."  
  
"Alright, let's call it a day."  
  
It was late, so we hit the sack. That night I had another one of those weird realistic dreams. It was a series of events.  
  
First, I was talking to an old guy who seemed to be a ghost he was telling me something important, but I couldn't understand at first. He was a bluish colour and seemed to know a lot more than he should have.  
  
FLASH! I was above a concert, where many people were gathered, I was a peregrine falcon. I closely panned up to see a giant sign, it read, 'Planet Hollywood!'  
  
FLASH! I was in a jungle fighting hork bajir. Then a vine came up and wrapped around my neck, squeezing harder and harder until I couldn't breathe....  
  
FLASH! An metal dog, finishing off the work we couldn't , and a crystal in my hand.  
  
FLASH! An andalite fighting alongside us in the long corridors of the mother ship.  
  
FLASH! A young boy, laughing at Rachel's misfortune. He was going to kill her and I was going to kill him slowly and painfully. I actually felt the emotion as if I was actually there and knew what I was going to do. More images of that boy flashed, I didn't understand them until I woke up in a rage.  
  
"DAVID YOU ASSHOLE!" I yelled as I woke up. It woke Sam up too.  
  
"Shut up or you're sleeping outside." He said as he punched me.  
  
I was fully awake now. I had no idea what these images were. I knew they were important, but I didn't understand what they were ore where they came from, so I was baffled. All I knew for sure was that the guy who was trying to kill Rachel was really mean, I wanted to kill him. I actually wanted to rip his throat out and watch him bleed. I didn't even know what he did, but it must have been bad.  
  
Oh well, I would figure it out in time. 


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16  
  
The next night, the school was cluttered. What can I say? It seemed to be a pretty big night. According to whit, it was the championships or something. I dunno. All I knew was that everyone was distracted, and that was good enough for me.  
  
Whitney came outside to meet me, I was playing it safe.  
  
"Morph into that guy." She said. "I can't have you being noticed." I agreed. It would be pretty bad. I morphed underneath the clothing. I was just a bit taller and a bit bulkier, but that was alright, the clothes were baggy.  
  
A few minutes later, I was ready. She directed me into the front doors of the school. "Okay, my mom is a coach, so you need to be inconspicuous, got it?" I nodded my head. "Good, we need to go around the gym and into the basement."  
  
We walked past the gym and Whitney had to stop. "Be right back." She said. I saw her go into the gym. Right into about three hundred people. All those people. I decided to stay behind the wall, maybe it would provide some cover.  
  
A few minutes later, Whitney came back. "Where have you been?" I asked.  
  
She stared at me blankly. "I needed to get the keys. You think they would let it open at any time?"  
  
"Well, um, I guess not." I stuttered. "How did you get them?"  
  
Whitney shrugged, "Told her that I had forgot my stuff in a class and needed the keys. Simple as that." She showed them to me and we went on our way.  
  
When we got to the door, Whitney said to me, "okay, this is the basement. Not really a basement, but good for all the facilities that the school doesn't talk about. Like the licensing and the shooting range." She told me.  
  
My eyes lit up. "A shooting range?" I inquired. "This school has a shooting range? Lucky bastards."  
  
"Not really, it had to be shut down due to bad ventilation or something. It hasn't been used in years. Still, there are probably some guns down here, maybe even some bullets." I smiled.  
  
We walked to the basement and through a short hall. At the end, the door had a plate the simply spelled 'license'. We went in.  
  
"Alright, just give me a minute with this machine. It may take a while, and I need to get some info." Whitney told me. I sat down on the stool.  
  
"So, when were you born?" She asked as she turned on the computer.  
  
"Real or fake?" I asked.  
  
"Fake." She replied.  
  
"February 16, 1986, that makes me seventeen years old." I told her.  
  
She sat at the computer while it booted up. "Good. What about your sex?"  
  
I glared at her.  
  
"Okay, so I can't joke?" She asked as she threw her hands up.  
  
"No, you can't joke." I clarified, "we see you as a serious person. You can't joke."  
  
"Hmph, fine." She looked down and began to type on the computer. "Hair colour? Eye colour, ect?" She asked.  
  
"Umm, blonde, blue. What else?"  
  
So I told her my height, weight, and country of origin. I don't know why. But after a lengthy interrogation, she sat me up facing the camera. I smiled and said, "Cheese!"  
  
"No, you can't do that." She told me. "I think you gotta be serious you can't smile or laugh or anything. This is legal tender. Can't be messed up, damn government."  
  
"Oh, sorry." I said as I straightened out and out a dull look on my face. A second later, the light flashed and I heard a whirring sound.  
  
"That's the machine processing the photo. It will take a minute. Then it will be sent to the computer and from there I can place the information onto the card so you we can print it. Then we laminate it."  
  
"Okay, I think I get it." I said. "What about a social insurance number."  
  
"That will take a few hours. But I can find a way to make it work" She went over to the computer and began to print out the license. She had to put thick paper into the printer. When that was done, she cut it out and put into a laminating machine. A few minutes later, I had a license cool.  
  
"Thank god you know how to do this, because I don't." I told her.  
  
Once she was done with the laminating and such, we went back upstairs. 


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17  
  
We told Tobias all the details of the plan. He was kinda pleased, but cautious. He was worried one of us would get pulled up the tube. He also brought up some interesting points, like what if there was a wire guard to stop the fishes. We hoped not, but we weren't planning on being sucked in.  
  
Then Cassie, Marco and Whitney all came to the house to see what was going on. They were all surprised to see Tobias there. He told them all his story of loss and hardship and they were all just happy to see him back.  
  
Then we all got together to have the greatest bash ever. Bonfires, food, marshmallows an everything, sharing war stories that we all already knew and laughing about all the stupid things we did. It was a celebration to our survival.  
  
Well, after a little while, everyone left and we went to bed. The 'big plan' we going to be tomorrow. We were all a little psyched, so we barely slept. We were also scared, of course. We could be marching to our deaths, but we had already survived two fights, what's one more. Besides, think about it this way, I am writing to you right now. Not many dead people can do that.  
  
That night I had a dream. This time it was about the sea. I could see the ocean's surface coming up to hit me. Than I went submerged and saw something in the water. It looked like a giant domed park on the oceans bottom. It was like an underground colony or something. It was cool.  
  
Then words came and spoke to me, but not spoken. {If anyone can hear me, I am in need of help. I am stranded here on earth and have nobody to communicate with. Please.} this went on for the majority of the dream. Then right before the end, I was pulled out of the water and pulled back to shore.  
  
It was definitely a distress call. It wasn't like other realistic dreams and it wasn't like a regular dream. It was really real, like I was there. Even more real than the other ones.  
  
I woke up the next day, energized as ever. We all had to be there at six in the morning to actually catch the fish.  
  
Unfortunately, I was woke up by the rest of the Animorphs. They were standing above me as I woke up. I had one of those thing where you just woke up and aren't thinking properly, so little things are weirdly out of proportion, so this little awakening was a little surprising.  
  
"Good God!" I shouted as I sat up, heart pounding in my chest. Rachel started to laugh. I was embarrassed. "Okay guys, we need to go." I said. "Who is going wolf?" We had to have someone be a wolf. That was the only way to ensure we could get the bomb there.  
  
"I will." Whitney volunteered.  
  
"Alright." Jake said. "Let's..." He started.  
  
"Let's do it!" Rachel said.  
  
We all got morphed and started to gather up the materials. The things we had to take included, fishing line, hooks, etc. We also had to give all of this to Whitney. She would carry it all in her mouth. Can't catch a fish without hooks and tackle.  
  
We got all this in a bag and left. I was the last to morph, because I was the one who put the stuff in the bags and gave them to Whitney. I looked at Tobias. "Ready to go." I began to morph, just then I noticed Tobias had a little wristwatch on. It was really funny to look at.  
  
{What? I needed it to keep track of time. We don't need any more problems like last time.} he would have smiled if he was human. I was glad he was getting along just fine now. He was even happy.  
  
I finished my morph and flew out the door and headed back with the rest of them, who were all circling overhead.  
  
{Okay, we have to keep tabs on Whitney. I want at least one person watching her at all time. Just watch the lone wolf and we will be fine.} Jake instructed.  
  
{Oh, and don't forget, there may be birdwatchers out there somewhere. So keep a relatively safe distance.} Tobias added.  
  
We all went on our way. 


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18  
  
The trip this time was relatively safe. Nobody had to stop for anything in particular. Well, one time, we had lost Whitney. It didn't take too long to find her. She was just a little off to the side, she got sidetracked.  
  
{Sorry, I was following my scent. This is the way we went last time.} she told us.  
  
{Well, we are almost there, and my eyes are telling me you were going in the wrong direction.} Marco said. {let's just go in a straight line please.}  
  
{Fine.} She replied.  
  
We continued to fly toward the lake that was just at the feet of the mountains. When we got there, we all demorphed.  
  
"Well, now we get to the fun parts." Marco said. "We get to sit here for about ten hours trying to catch a fish."  
  
"Come on, at least we will be doing it in the wilderness." Cassie said. "Just enjoy it for that."  
  
"But I prefer my fishing games, the fish don't think, the computer does, I can cheat on that." He whined.  
  
"Alright, I will catch the damn fish. It shouldn't be too hard." Rachel said. She picked up the string and hook. She tried desperately to tie them up. Eventually, she gave up and gave them to Cassie to do. "Here, you are better at this."  
  
Before long, Cassie had tied up three different poles, which were just string in between hooks and sticks. But it was effective enough.  
  
While she was doing this, I was furiously searching for worms under the rocks and so on. I found a good handful, so we were good to go.  
  
So we began to fish. When I was young, I used to fish with my dad all the time. I wasn't too bad, I always caught at least one. Unfortunately, I wasn't having as much luck today. Never have I had to endure such tedious work. It was sooooo boring.  
  
It wouldn't have been so bad, except that it had to be done. There was no alternative, so we were stuck, and I couldn't get the enjoyment out of it that I used to. The serenity and such was such a release for anger. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the peacefulness. I gave up at about noon and let Rachel take over.  
  
Once, at about noon, Cassie had a scare. She caught something.  
  
"Hey, I have something!" She shouted as her stick bent and tugged with almost rhythmical consistency. She tried to bring it in by walking away from the lake shore. I could see it right there on the banks, sitting there in foot-deep water. It was bout a foot long.  
  
"Someone get it!" Jake said. He was still sitting there trying to fish, not letting go of his pole.  
  
"I am trying." Marco replied. He grabbed and missed several times.  
  
I tried too, but the fish just wouldn't be caught. After about three minutes of trying, the fish outsmarted us and unhooked the hook from his jaw and swam away. It was depressing.  
  
"Oh, come on. This absolutely sucks. I think this is completely stupid. I say we go home and try again next weekend. If this is all we can catch in this much time, we won't have time to test the morph or anything." Marco complained.  
  
I shook my head. "No, we have to do this today." I told him.  
  
"The water level is dropping rapidly. We don't know how long they will keep coming back to this lake. The sooner the better. Besides, we already are here, we might as well do it now." Whitney said. She was right, we didn't know if they would be coming back much longer. Maybe they weren't coming back today.  
  
So, on went the day, rather fishless. We estimated that the ship would come in at seven and leave at eight. The bomb was programmed for 8:01. The plan was to have it go off right before it hit the town. Believe me, we thought a lot of it out.  
  
The rest of the day was still lacking of fish. We were just about to give up at ten to six when Rachel caught something. It was a trout or something. Cassie told us. It was about eight inches long, so it wasn't all that big.  
  
When Rachel finally brought it to shore. We all stared at is in disbelief.  
  
"We have to become that?" Marco asked. "I could cook this bitch up with a little batter and tartar sauce. I mean, come on."  
  
"Think about it this way, someone had to save the world, and it might as well be us." Jake said. "Come on, everyone tough it before it dies. It's DNA is useless unless it is alive."  
  
We all reached out and touched the slimy flesh one by one. It went limp and seemed to be dead, but when we returned it to the water it called home, it jerked alive with life and swam away.  
  
"Well, we don't have time to test it, so let's get to work." Rachel said.  
  
"Now I have a fish morph. I wonder what it's like underwater. None of us have morphed anything underwater, so we really can do nothing but hope this works out." I said. And now I had quite a repertoire of animals from the animal kingdom. Andalite, hork bajir, tiger, elephant, gorilla, fox, snake, cat, falcon, wolf, and now fish. I was a walking zoo. I could charge money and morph for people, but no, I had to drop out of society. Oh well, you win a little, lose a little. 


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19  
  
Unfortunately, by the time we had always acquired the fish, the first choppers were approaching.  
  
{Guys. I hear choppers.} Tobias said from above. {They are kind of early.}  
  
"Uh oh." Jake said. "We need to hide."  
  
"Where?" Cassie asked. We all started to look around to go somewhere.  
  
"Over there." I said as I pointed to a little cave that had brambles covering the entrance. It looked small, but big enough to get in. I grabbed the bomb and hurled it in the lake. It stayed underwater, so I couldn't see it. Good.  
  
"Let's go." Jake said. We all walked over to the little cave. I pushed my way through the brambles. I was cut up pretty badly, but I would be morphing soon and they would be healed. The others were close behind me.  
  
We were all closed in the little cramped cave.  
  
"Why do we get all the bad rooms at the hotel. I mean, we are saving the world here." Marco complained. How typical.  
  
"Settle down, we need to do something soon. The yeerks will be here any minute now, and they will probably check out this cave." Jake said. Just then, Tobias flew in through the brambles, just barely making it through without losing some feathers.  
  
{Okay, the troops are all here, and they are really searching through now. We need to do something.} Tobias urged.  
  
"I am thinking." Jake said.  
  
Then, Cassie piped up. "I know, those fish are small enough for you to carry, right, Tobias?"  
  
{Umm, I think so.} he answered, a little surprised.  
  
"We can morph, one at a time, then Tobias can carry us up into the ship." We all stared at her in disbelief.  
  
"You go first." Marco said.  
  
"Wimp." Rachel muttered under her breath.  
  
Jake shook his head. "I will go first." He said. He was trying to keep cassie from doing it first. But Cassie still wanted to go first.  
  
"It's Okay, I can morph the fastest, and I can keep control of the instincts better. I will go first." She said. Immediately her skin turned shiny as the scale patterns formed all over her body. It was hard to tell exactly what they were because it was fairly dark in the cave. But I could see her form shrink and her limbs change into fins. She continued to shrink until she was the fish.  
  
{Air, Can't breathe.} she said.  
  
"Demorph, Cassie. We can morph little things and get out of here." Jake said with concern in his voice.  
  
{No, Just take me to the lake, Tobias.}  
  
Tobias picked her up in his talons and flew out the bush with her.  
  
{AAAH!} I heard Cassie scream, then nothing else.  
  
{Cassie?} Tobias called. Nothing. {Cassie?} still nothing.  
  
I could see Jake hold his head in his hands. He was probably feeling pretty bad right then.  
  
Then I heard, {wow, is it ever cool down here.} Cassie said from the lake. {these eyes are kind of cool. I can't see anything above the water line though. Come on, it will be fine.} Jake's head went right back up.  
  
{Okay, who's next?} Tobias asked as he flew in the cave. {and have someone ready when I get back next time, the place is swarming with park rangers. The hork bajir aren't here yet, but they will be soon, and they seem to really be into the whole 'check the place out' really bad today.}  
  
"Okay." Jake said, "Time to get moving."  
  
{I'm ready.} Whitney said. She was already morphed to fish by the time we were done arguing. Tobias grabbed her and flew off with her. Then Marco started to morph.  
  
"Might as well be gone before they come to catch the rest of you." He said, right before he lost the ability o use his mouth.  
  
{Wow, it is nice.} I heard Whitney say. {Where's the bomb?}  
  
{I am still looking for it.} Cassie answered.  
  
Tobias flew in again just in time to pick up Marco. He didn't even stop. Jake was next, then me, then Rachel.  
  
I felt my skin turn hard and slimy as I morphed. I gained gills early, so I had a hard time breathing the entire time through. I was completely in morph for a minute before Tobias picked me up.  
  
{Can't breathe!} I gasped. {Tobias, Hurry up.}  
  
{I'm coming.} he said.  
  
I was beginning to lose concentration when I felt sharp talons grab me by the mid-section. Then I felt more claws tugging. Looking back on it, they were probably the brambles. But at the time, I couldn't concentrate on anything.  
  
Just as I was about to slip into subconsciousness, I felt the cool water over my body. I stood there for a second in shock when I realized I still couldn't breathe. What was wrong? Was the lack of air for so long impairing my ability to breathe? I panicked and flicked my tail and swam. Suddenly I could breathe. I thought about what I knew about fish. And now that I was fully aware, I remembered that oxygen rich water had to be flowing through my gills to take in the oxygen. I continued swimming.  
  
It wasn't long until I could focus on the aspects of the underwater environment. The cloudy water through the fish eyes was like e looking bare eyeballed through a chlorinated pool. Kind of blurry, but still able to distinguish fairly detailed shapes.  
  
{Hey, guys, Can anyone find that bomb?} I asked the other fishes.  
  
{Not yet.} Jake answered. {Where did you throw it?}  
  
{I just chucked it really far, generally aiming towards the middle of the lake. I didn't even get close, though.}  
  
{Well ,we need to split up.} Cassie suggested. {We will find it quicker.}  
  
{How about we just ask Tobias to tell us where it is?} Whitney said. It was simple, why didn't I think of it. {Tobias, could you please tell us where it is, with those laser scope eyes of yours?}  
  
{Just a minute, I have run into some troubles.} oh no, what could happen.  
  
{Is Rachel safe?} Marco asked.  
  
{Not yet. There is a hork bajir blocking my way.} Tobias answered.  
  
{Just..... fly......past him!} Rachel said urgently. {Can't breathe.}  
  
Tobias did, because a few seconds later a fish plopped down in the water not too far away from me. {Okay, I have to go.} Tobias said.  
  
{Why?} someone asked.  
  
{He's here, and they are shooting at anything and everything. I can't stick around.} he didn't have to tell us who he was. He was Visser three, and if he didn't want Tobias in the air, he would have his way. {I am going to hide on the cliff until the ship arrives, I will do what I can from there.  
  
I smiled in my head. Let's get this party started. 


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20  
  
We continued looking for the bomb with no avail. Tobias tried to help, but was completely useless in his absence.  
  
{All I can say is that it is somewhere near the middle.} Tobias said from above.  
  
{Well, I guess we keep looking.} Rachel said, {After all, these eyes aren't really that good for distance anyway.}  
  
We continued looking for that bomb for quite a while, with no avail. We all were searching for about ten minutes before Marco found it.  
  
{Hey, I think I have it!} he shouted. We all got together at the bomb, which wasn't easy in itself. We had to pair up and guide each other to the bomb. Weird, eh? Unfortunately, the ship wasn't there yet and we had to wait. We soon found out that fishes need to move to breathe so we were continually going in circles waiting.  
  
{Okay guys, it's here.} Tobias warned. {and it looked ready.}  
  
Only a few seconds later I felt a large presence in the water not too far away. I could tell it was the tube.  
  
{Hey, I think that's the tube.} Cassie said. {We need to bring the bomb to the mouth of the tube before it starts sucking.}  
  
We all tried to grab a hold of the little knobs that sam put on the bomb. Let me tell you, it isn't in any way easy. We kept having to swim, past it and try again, and again.  
  
{Got it.} Rachel said. {I will try to hold it for you guys.}  
  
We still were having difficulty grabbing it, but it was soon too late. {I feel a current.} Jake warned. And he was right, I could feel a slight tugging towards the tube. I tried to fight it, but it was really strong.  
  
{Let go, Rachel, you don't want to be in the water tank when that bomb goes off.} I told her.  
  
{Don't worry, I am way ahead of you. I let it go and I think the bomb is already in the storage hold. I am having a hard time fighting the current.}  
  
{I think we all are.} Whitney pointed out.  
  
{Just do your best!} Jake urged.  
  
We all swam our hardest, but eventually, we realized we weren't going to get away. The current was just too strong.  
  
{Guys, I don't think we are going to make it.} Marco said. {And I was planning on asking Rebecca out too.}  
  
{As long as we continue to fight it, there is hope. Maybe the ship will get full.} Cassie suggested. Mostly in vain. We knew how long it took, and it wasn't even close yet. We were going to get sucked up, and there was nothing we could do.  
  
We continued to fight it, but ultimately lost the battle.  
  
{AAAAAH!} Whitney yelled as she was sucked up the straw. She was followed by Cassie, Jake, Marco, Rachel and me,  
  
{Hey, that was kind of fun!} I said. {Let's do it again.}  
  
{You are kidding me, right?} Rachel asked. {We are going to die now, and there is absolutely nothing we can do.}  
  
Jake butted in, {Actually, we can think of something. Maybe we can morph something big and try to find a way out of here.}  
  
If I was human, I would have slapped him. {No, what makes you think there would be a way out. Who would be in here? It would be too much of a safety risk for them. It could flood the ship.}  
  
{Well, we could at least morph something that will maybe survive the blow. Besides, water will weaken the impact, maybe we can still survive.} Marco suggested.  
  
We all demorphed back to human and waited. All hope lost, we knew we were doomed. There was nothing we could do. We floated there for a while before hearing from Tobias.  
  
{Umm, guys, I think we have a problem.} He said.  
  
{I know, it looks like we will be in the tank when the bomb goes off.} I informed him. I was the only one that could use telepathy outside of morph.  
  
{No, it isn't that. The yeerks have spotted me and are firing at me. They are going crazy, and have almost hit the ship many times. It isn't looking good.} He told us. {And on top of that, Sam is here.} 


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21  
  
{What!?} I yelled. {How is that possible?}  
  
{I don't know. I can see him hiding just beyond the sight of the hork bajir guards on the outer ring. He has a bag full of dracon beams or something. I would fly up and see if my prediction was right, but then these Taxxons would fry me three ways from Sunday.} He informed us.  
  
I, on the other hand, was confused, and the others were probably looking at me funny, if they could see me. The interior of the ship was completely black.  
  
"What is going on?" Rachel asked. Her voice echoed across the ceiling of the tank. You could feel the water was getting closer to the roof.  
  
"Sam is here with some guns."  
  
"I know that." Jake said. "What does he plan on doing?"  
  
"I don't know, ask him."  
  
{He also has swords, I just noticed that too. He is planning on fighting.} Tobias informed us.  
  
{Well good, try talking to him. Get an answer out of him.} I suggested.  
  
{And how do you suppose I do that?} Tobias asked sarcastically, I have bug fighters on one side, Taxxons crawling after me on the other. Both have dracon beams and could turn me into KFC any day. I have my own troubles to deal with.}  
  
I tried to say something to Sam. {If you are planning anything, do it now. We are kind of facing a checkmate right now and you are our only chance to do anything. So DO SOMETHING SOON!} I yelled.  
  
"Let's hope he could hear you." Rachel said.  
  
"Well, whatever he's doing, it will be good." I told her. I knew sam well, he was smart. Then again, we all know this by now. "Do you feel that?" I asked. The water was getting continually warmer, almost o the point where it hurt.  
  
"Yeah, what is it?" Jake asked, "It kind of hurts."  
  
"Sam must be blasting a hole in the water tank. Let's hope the heat doesn't cook us alive." Marco said. "Too bad we weren't fishes, hen we could go down in style. Maybe with some tartar sauce and some french fries." We all nervously laughed as the water temperature slowly rose.  
  
Suddenly, the water level began to fall and some light shone in through the hole. We were all sucked towards the hole. The water cooled the twisted metal, but it still hurt to touch it. "Everyone, morph raptor." I yelled right before we all started to fall. I tried to hold onto the metal. It wasn't as hot as you would have thought, but it was bearable.  
  
I held on, looking at the ground below me it seemed so much farther away then I would have thought. That was because the ship was rising slowly. This giant truck ship was slowly gaining altitude.  
  
I was struggling to hod on as the water pushed me down, but I could see my friends the Animorphs turn to bird and fly away.  
  
{Whoa! That was close!} I heard Rachel yelled.  
  
I looked down again and was hoping there would be enough room for me to morph. I let go. The water stopped at the same time and I was free to fall. I turned upside down and dived head first.  
  
{Far too close, Tobias, you okay?} Cassie asked.  
  
{I am fine.} Tobias answered. {Sam generated just enough of a distraction for me to get away from the ships. He is having a hard time.}  
  
As I looked down, I morphed. I could see that Tobias was wrong.  
  
As the feathers formed, I could seem Sam jump at a hork bajir and go right past him. At first, it seemed like nothing was wrong, but I was not mistaken when it looked like the top half fell off the bottom half and went limp. He cut it right in half.  
  
My eyes were forming, so I could see better.  
  
{YOU!} the Visser roared. {KILL HIM!} Sam smiled his little sadistic 'you're gonna die!' smile. Three bug fighters and about ten hork bajir all came at him at once, all armed with weapons. This didn't look good.  
  
My body shrunk as the ground came ever so much closer. I was going to make it though. I looked back down at Sam. All three bug fighters shot at him. He jumped out of the way. Now, when I say this, you have to realize that three bug fighters have a pretty long range. Sam must have jumped a good fifty feet in the air in a backflip. He stopped at about the same height as the bug fighters and shot the outer two with the dracon beams.  
  
They both fell to the ground and exploded, killing many hork bajir in the process. They were all trying to get in the helicopters and the blade ship.  
  
I was complete and spread my wings and flew harmlessly over the trees. I turned back around to se what Sam was doing. He was in a pinch.  
  
{NOOOO!} the Visser roared. {I will kill him myself, Back off!} I could see all the hork bajir back away from Sam. Sam turned a dial on the Dracon beam and calmly rose it to the sky. A giant red beam lanced upwards at the truck ship and burned its way through the truck ship and continued on towards the clouds. The Truck ship exploded in the air and began to slowly fall. You could see the thrusters trying to keep it up at least a bit.  
  
I looked back down to see the Visser pointing a dracon beam weapon at Sam. Sam just shook his head as the weapon rose out of his hands and was thrown in the lake.  
  
{Gordon, we need to back away. So does Sam!} I turned around and saw Rachel flying back to me. {We need to go, the rest have already went home!}  
  
{Just a second.} I turned back to the action.  
  
Sam was now face to face with Visser Three. The Visser was a good foot taller than Sam, but it didn't matter. I could tel he wasn't intimidated, he just smiled. 


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22  
  
The Visser struck at Sam with lightning speed. Sam stopped the tail with telekinesis. He was probably expecting the strike. Sam drew his sword and slashed off the end foot of the Visser's tail. {AAARRRGGGHHH!} he screamed. Sam replied by stabbing the blade through his chest. You could see the blade come out the other side bloodied. {AAARRRGGGHHH!} he replied again.  
  
When Sam retracted the sword, he collapsed in a bloody heap on the ground. The hork bajir who were once waiting now joined in the fight. Sam just kept them all at bay by forming what seemed to be an invisible wall around him as he jumped away, shooting at the group of them.  
  
"Have Fun Visser, Remember my offer!" I could hear Sam yell as he iced yet another bug fighter that was now chasing him. They got the hint and stayed on the ground.  
  
The big ass truck ship finally hit the ground in one large fireball. I could feel the concussion of waves on my weak bird body. I toppled head over tail and fell wildly.  
  
I regained control to see some of the remaining hork bajir carrying Visser Three into his untouched blade ship. I am assuming he was going to morph to repair the wound. If not, he would die, but then again, I didn't know much about andalite anatomy, maybe it missed his evil heart.  
  
{Sam.... How?} I stammered. {How did you get here?}  
  
He didn't answer, but I knew what he was thinking. Tell ya later. He flew just above the treetops away. I didn't know he could fly, he told me he couldn't. He stopped to pick up his bag of weapons before blasting away. I was dumbfounded.  
  
{That was Sam, right?} Rachel asked, uncertain.  
  
{I think so.}  
  
{What was that about an offer?} she asked. I didn't know, so I stayed silent. We flew off, not knowing what was going on.  
  
I finally made it home to see that Sam wasn't yet there. No biggie, he was probably on his way. I sat down, completely tired from all the morphing. Even though it usually doesn't bother me, the others were always whining that the morphing tires them out, I didn't believe them until today, I was pooched.  
  
Anyway, I was about to hit the sack when I heard a huge explosion not too far away. I was obliged to check it out.  
  
I flew out the front door and saw a bug ship hovering above the trees. I decided to go after it after I grabbed a small dagger and beam weapon. Thank god we had a steady supply of them.  
  
I chased through the underbrush, stumbling over my own feet from fatigue. Eventually I saw a giant fireball in the forest. The forest was going to burn up, and our house was going to go down with it. I stopped. The wall of fire was going to be hard to judge so I could get through without burning me.  
  
I backed up and ran forward. I jumped through the burning underbrush to see Sam on one side and three hork bajir on the other along a torn bug fighter.  
  
"You can't win, yeerks." Sam said. "Not an icicle's chance in hell."  
  
"Frash! Die human!" One of them yelled as he raised his weapon.  
  
"You don't learn, do you." He said as he made a fist. The weapon was lifted and brought down in the middle.  
  
The heat was unbearable. "Do something about this fire." I suggested. "I will take care of them." It was laughable, but oh well. I raised my gun and shot the first one. Sam began to get rid of the fire.  
  
The other two came at me. I ducked under th first swing and had to bend over backwards to avoid the next one. I was vulnerable when he tried to stab me in the neck. I twisted sideways and straight up to see another blade coming at me. I used the dagger shielding my forearm to deflect it off to the side.  
  
I ducked under yet another punch to end up behind both of them. I looked around to see that the flames were slowly dying down. Good, no forest fires today.  
  
The two of them turned around and came at me. I backed away, ducked, and dodged for a while before I knew I was not in the fight anymore. I arched my back and fell flat on my ass, for sam was going to take this over. He stood behind me and pushed them very far away, to the other side of the little clearing.  
  
I aimed my gun and....  
  
The fire was still not gone, but sam was working on it. "Okay, we have to go." Sam told me. "They followed me back and I made sure to not go home. They are probably still watching me, so you should maybe stay out here with me."  
  
"Okay, besides, we need to figure some things out, Rachel has informed me of a little concluding meeting, so be sure to be there." I said. "Oh, and I do believe I said I wanted to be there the first time." 


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23  
  
The next day, we all assembled in Cassie's barn after the night outside of our own house. Jake started off the meeting. "Okay, we just did something huge. We destroyed that ship, or, sam did. One question though, why did you do it that way?" He asked Sam. Sam was in the rafters beside me and Tobias.  
  
"I knew there was no way you guys would be able to get it in without getting sucked in yourself, and I didn't want you killed."  
  
"Good enough, but I can see you can fly now. Pretty cool, when did you learn that?" Cassie asked. "I wonder if it is as cool as flying as a bird?"  
  
"I don't have anything to compare it to, so I don't know." Sam said. "And I have been able to do it for a week or so. I have been practising."  
  
"Cool, maybe you can teach me that." Marco said. I just laughed. "What?"  
  
"There is no way you will be able to do that. None of us. We can morph, so leave it at that." I said.  
  
Rachel was smiling. "I have a question. How fast can you do it?"  
  
"About as fast as you guys running as wolves. So pretty fast."  
  
{I want to have a flying contest with you.} Tobias said jokingly. Sam laughed.  
  
"I would lose. I may be good, but I can only concentrate so hard. I have found that I can only lift what I could normally. Like, I couldn't lift a horse."  
  
"Oh, then why could you push around the hork bajir like that?" Whitney asked, speaking up for the first time. "I mean, you couldn't do that straight on, there's no way."  
  
"Oh, contraire. I could, if given the proper time to prepare myself and if it wasn't expecting it, so it didn't dodge. I have the strength to do it, but not the coordination. You see what I mean? Same reason why I can now fly. I can lift myself, so I could telekinetically lift myself. It took me a while to figure it out, though."  
  
"But you couldn't possibly lift yourself that high." Whitney speculated.  
  
"Actually, my mind doesn't tire like a body does. If I can lift it, I can lift it as high as I want. If I can lift it off the ground, then I can lift it to the stars. If I can put all my strength into a hit repeatedly, then it will go steady. It is just a matter of timing and concentration."  
  
"Well, can I see a demonstration?" Marco asked. Of course Sam would.  
  
Sam nodded his head. "Sure." The barn doors opened as Sam jumped off the hayloft. E swung back around and came back in through the doors, flying all the way. He set himself down and pointed towards Whitney.  
  
"Whoa!" She yelped. "What the?"  
  
She lifted off the bale of hay and was carried up to the hayloft with me. I waved. "Hi, nice to meet ya, my name's mud."  
  
She smiled and jumped down. It was actually pretty far down, but she was a gymnast, she was fine.  
  
"Well, I see we have been shown our point. I think it is time to conclude. Sam, I understand you can do this, but please keep it to a minimum. We don't need any suspicious onlooker seeing someone do that, okay?"  
  
"Sure, no problem."  
  
"Tobias, I believe you had something to say?" Jake asked nervously.  
  
{Um, yeah. That bird that we released was there, at the site. She was one of the animals who got shot down. She is dead. I was thinking that maybe we could celebrate her momentary independency by at least burying her.} he looked away. I could tell he was embarrassed, but I could understand his standpoint.  
  
"I understand. The celebration of life, nothing more important. I say we do it." I put my two cents in.  
  
"I agree." Rachel agreed.  
  
Cassie also agreed, that was just the way she was. Marco and Jake were hesitant though.  
  
"I don't know, it is risky." Jake said.  
  
"Yeah, all those controllers patrolling the place, I say we just wait for this to cool down and maybe make a memorial for her when they all leave and find another location to plunder." Marco was right, it would be too crowded right now.  
  
"I agree, maybe let this one cool down first." I said. There were really no objections, there was no opposing argument.  
  
"It is agreed then?" Jake asked. He didn't like acting like a leader. He let us all agree first. We did. "Good, here's the deal, we will all lay low for the week. We dealt a huge blow and they will be angry. So let's just leave this alone for now. Let's go."  
  
We all left and lived our own lives. We did eventually bury the bird, and for whose idea it was, Tobias didn't seem at all bothered by it. I do believe hit words were something like 'birds die all the time, I just knew this one, that's all'. So, until next time.... 


	24. Epilogue

Alright, this is Mind Over Matter Book #3. It was done in a week and it was done rather poorly. It was written just after seeing X-2 and I felt the need to incorporate the whole fire thing. Well, just disregard it. It never makes another appearance, even though I make it out to be great and all. Oh well, I am canning it. I have matured.  
  
So for all those who have actually read it, I thank you for your patience and I would also ask if you can consider not pretending this is the peak of my skills, it isn't.  
  
So I hope to see you all over at part four. It is much better.  
  
Runa 


End file.
